[Design] Context created via atomized views

[Miguel Marcos]

I'd like to bring up the value of generating, storing and visualizing context
generated by sequence, relationship, and dependency. For example I find the
following very valuable:
- threads of conversation where emails and their responses are ordered in an
indented or outline fashion.
- threads of items (to dos, meetings, and notes) generated in the midst of
planning or brainstorming. These threads maintain dependent relationships that
one creates consciously while brainstorming. Some part of the relationship
remains outside the scope of a field:value model because they inherit some sort
of dependency which is too complex or extensive to model or perhaps too
arbitrary. Outlining is an obvious way of visualizing this kind of relationship
on the fly.
- creation of an item of one type based on another item of another type. A
common example in my worklife, a request from a client comes via an email
causing one to create a to do, creating a dependency.  When I see the to do I
want to be able to trace it back to its source without having to remember it in
my mind.
- (kind of like the previous one) creation of a relationship to one or more
existing items on the fly. An email comes in with some valuable information one
sees can relate to an existing project. I wish for some way to alias that email
back to a project folder, a task, to do, meeting, a contact, another email, a
combination but without implying any type of dependency, more of an FYI type
alias.

Visualization of this kind of sequential context is not satisfied by a folder
that sifts items by rules. Visualization of sequential context must be flexible
enough to include x levels of context when viewing but clearly x cannot be too
high, otherwise a view will engulf one with an excess of information.

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